But second-place finishers in the mens and womens elite races - Jesse Anthony (Jamis) and Rebecca Wellons (Ridley) - each will wear the series leader's jersey at Sunday's series finale, the NBX Grand Prix, held at the same seaside venue but on a different course.

Elite Women

Milkowski grabbed her second consecutive win in the series by powering away from Wellons, Amy Wallace (Richard Sachs-RGM Watches), Natasha Elliot (Stevens Cross) and Maureen Bruno-Roy (Independent Fabrications) in the early laps.

"The course had a lot of sections that were just made for me," Milkowski said after the race. She was referring to the long paved and dirt sections, which, given the sunny and dry conditions, favored power riders over technicians like Bruno-Roy, who came praying for snow (Bruno-Roy was consoled by grabbing the $200 first lap prime).

A few early mistakes kept Wellons from staying with Milkowski - whose own technical skills are not to be underestimated. Wellons was the first and only woman to ride a steep hill that race announcer Richard Fries dubbed "the shrubbery". But she said the effort did not pay off.

"I don't know why I did it, it didn't gain me anything. It was an ego thing I guess," she said.

Wellons nevertheless was thrilled to take the series leaders jersey from Lyne Bessette, who skipped the event. Wellons has finished second five times in the series, but has yet to win.

"My grandfather always said slow and steady wins the race. Consistency wins," she said. "I'll defend it tomorrow with all I've got. And I get to wear it no matter what!"

Elite Men

The elite men's race featured the closest finish in the 2007 series to date, following a long battle between mountain bike legend (and two-time cyclocross national champion) Todd Wells and Jesse Anthony. Anthony, 24, maintains the series lead, showing he can compete with the best elites after a successful education in the junior and U23 ranks.

Wells and his younger brother Troy Wells (Clif Bar) joined Anthony and Chris Jones (NERAC) to form an elite group early in the race. The group dynamics were complicated: the Wells brothers, while not technically teammates, were clearly cooperative. Todd had nothing to lose in the series: this was his first appearance. Jones was in second in the series, after briefly leading it last month. But passing Anthony would require beating him by several places both Saturday and Sunday. All four are tuning up before next week's national championships in Kansas City.

With two laps to go, the elder Wells and Anthony separated themselves. Wells tried to gap Anthony on technical sections, but was frustrated by small mistakes. Wells had been one of the few to consistently ride a sandy beach section, and with a half lap to go, he dove into a sand with a two bike-length gap on Anthony. But a tiring Wells got out of the groove and was forced to dismount. Anthony grabbed the lead and quickly threw down some attacks of his own that Wells easily matched.

"Usually when you attack someone, you can get a gap even if they are riding strong, but I would attack and look back and he'd be right there," Anthony said.

The Jamis rider had little choice but to lead out the paved uphill sprint, and Wells pounced just before the two passed under a pedestrian bridge packed with spectators. When the crowd switched sides, they saw Wells struggling to come around Anthony on the outside of a long sweeping turn. Then, from above and behind by 100 meters, the crowd saw a finish too close to call.

Wells later said he chose the wrong side to pass. "I actually thought it straightened out more. It was a bigger turn than I realized," he said. Despite the mistake, he squeaked out a tire's width win and said he feels he's on track for a third national jersey next week.

Anthony, who won the U23 national championships last year, said he feels prepared for his first elite nationals, too.